North Carolina Highway 147

NC 147
Route information
	Maintained by NCDOT
Length:	15.7 mi (25.3 km)
Existed:	1970 – present
Major junctions
South end:	NC 540 in Morrisville
	I-40 near Durham; US 15 / US 501 in Durham
North end:	I-85 in Durham
Location
Counties:	Wake, Durham
Highway system

North Carolina Highway 147 is a North Carolina state highway. The route connects the Research Triangle Park to both Western Wake County and the city of Durham.

Route Description[edit]

The route's entire length is a limited access freeway; linking NC 540 in Morrisville with the Research Triangle Park (RTP), Downtown Durham and Interstates 40 and 85. It is a fairly urbanized commuter-route and suffers from peak-traffic during conventional rush hours. Speed limits on the freeway range from 55 mph (89 km/h) to 65 mph (105 km/h).

From NC 540 to Interstate 40, the highway is a toll road, part of the Triangle Expressway. Tolling on this stretch of NC 147 began on January 3, 2012.^[3]^[4]

Its northern terminus with Interstate 85 is a partial interchange, where northbound NC 147 merges onto southbound I-85 and vice-versa. Travelers wanting to go north on I-85 and vice-versa must utilize the nearby U.S. 15-501 freeway.

Alternate names[edit]

Though the highway is commonly known as "North Carolina Highway 147" or "Route 147" throughout the state, the highway does have other known names it uses locally in areas.

Buck Dean Expressway – official name of NC 147 within the city limits of Durham (approved: December 14, 1984).^[5]
Durham Freeway – name given by NCDOT to NC 147 north of I-40 to Durham city limits.
East–West Expressway – original name of NC 147 within the city limits of Durham; it was renamed to Buck Dean Expressway.^[5]
Triangle Expressway – official name of the toll section of NC 147, overlaps with Triangle Parkway.
Triangle Parkway – name given by NCDOT to the section between NC 540 to I-40.

Tolls[edit]

Northbound on Toll NC 147

Toll Rates of NC 147 from NC 540

From NC 540 to Interstate 40, NC 147 is part of the Triangle Expressway, the first toll road in North Carolina. Tolls are collected all-electronically and camera enforced. Tolls are $0.15 per mile with NC Quick Pass or $0.24 per mile for non-NC Quick Pass drivers.^[3]^[6]^[7]

Toll rates^[8] as of January 3, 2012:

To/From	Axles	NC Quick Pass	Bill by mail
Western Wake Freeway (exit 1) Davis Drive / Hopson Road (exit 2)	2 axles	$0.50	$0.77
	3 axles	$1.00	$1.54
	4+ axles	$2.00	$3.08
Western Wake Freeway (exit 1) Interstate 40 (exit 5)	2 axles	$0.50	$0.77
	3 axles	$1.00	$1.54
	4+ axles	$2.00	$3.08
Davis Drive / Hopson Road (exit 3) Interstate 40 (exit 5)	2 axles	$0.30	$0.45
	3 axles	$0.60	$0.90
	4+ axles	$1.20	$1.80

History[edit]

The Durham Freeway began with a 1962 bond referendum.^[9] The first section of the road, completed in 1970 around downtown Durham, was designated Interstate 40.^{[citation needed]} The original section extended from Chapel Hill Street to Alston Avenue and resulted in the destruction of a portion of the Hayti neighborhood as part of urban renewal,^[10] though a DOT engineer said the neighborhood likely would have been torn down anyway. The road was later extended west to Erwin Road and southward to where it now meets the current I-40, but the decision was made for I-40 to bypass Durham. The section inside the city was renamed. The road's other names have included East-West Expressway and the I.L. "Buck" Dean Freeway.^[9]

In 1979, planners said many of the city's roads needed widening, and the decision was made to extend the freeway to I-85. The first section in 1982 disrupted the Crest Street neighborhood, but the N.C. DOT moved 181 houses instead of tearing them down, an action that resulted in a 1987 third-place Federal Highway Administration award for "historic preservation and cultural enhancement".^[9] Eventually, the problems that caused the original I-40 extension to I-85 to be delayed were overcome, and NC 147 was extended through the city.^{[citation needed]} Work began in 1993, and the eastbound lanes opened May 21, 1997.^[11] The section connecting the road to I-85 opened July 31, 1998.^[10]

On September 6, 2011, the south termini at T.W. Alexander Drive (exit 4) was permanently closed to make way for NC 147's extension to NC 540 in Morrisville; this made I-40 the temporary southern termini for three months. On December 8, 2011, the southern extension was opened. Dubbed the Triangle Parkway, the 3.4-mile (5.5 km) stretch of road is also part of the Triangle Expressway.^[3]^[4]^[12]^[13]

Future[edit]

There are two future projects involving NC 147. The first is the East End Connector (Currently in planning and environmental study).^[14] That project was set to start construction in 2010, but was delayed until after 2012.^[15] The second is the NC 147 extension to McCrimmon Parkway, in Morrisville, which is scheduled for Reprioritization.^[16]^[17]

Junction list[edit]

County	Location	Mile^[2]	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Wake	Morrisville				McCrimmon Parkway	Proposed extension (unfunded)^[16]^[17]
Wake	Morrisville	1.5	2.4	1	NC 540 to I-40 to I-540 to US 1 – Raleigh, Sanford	Southbound exit left; Triangle Expressway continues NC 540 south
Durham		2.5	4.0	2 / 3	Davis Drive / Hopson Road	Signed exit 2 northbound, exit 3 southbound
				4	T.W. Alexander Drive	Permanently closed as of September 6, 2011^[12]^[13]
		4.5	7.2	5	I-40 to NC 54 – Raleigh, Chapel Hill	Triangle Expressway begins; signed as exit 5A (east) and 5B (west)
		5.5	8.9	6	Cornwallis Road – Research Triangle Park
		6.5	10.5	7	T.W. Alexander Drive
		7.5	12.1	8	Ellis Road
	Durham				US 70 Conn.	Proposed East End Connector (Currently in planning and environmental study)^[14]
		10.5	16.9	10	Briggs Avenue – Durham Technical Community College
		11.3	18.2	11	NC 55 (Alston Avenue)
		11.8	19.0	12A	Fayetteville Street – North Carolina Central University
		12.0	19.3	12B	US 15 Bus. / US 501 Bus. (Mangum Street/Roxboro Street) – Downtown	To Durham Bulls Athletic Park
		12.6	20.3	12C	Duke Street	No southbound exit; To North Carolina Museum of Life and Science
		13.0	20.9	13	Chapel Hill Street
		13.7	22.0	14	To US 70 Bus. / Swift Avenue – Duke University East Campus	To North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and Northgate Mall
		14.3	23.0	15A	Elba Street / Trent Drive	Northbound exit, southbound entrance; to Duke Medical Center
		14.8	23.8	15B	Hillandale Road / Fulton Street	To Veterans Affairs Medical Center
		15.7	25.3	16	US 15 / US 501 to I-85 north – Chapel Hill, Duke University West Campus	Signed as exits 16A (north) and 16B (south)
		17.2	27.7		I-85 south – Greensboro	Northbound exit, southbound entrance
Concurrency terminus Closed/former HOV only Incomplete access Tolled/ETC Unopened